Stories off women who left Esther House Shelter

All women Identity is kept save and an alias name was given

Interviews with the 4 ladies

What difference has Esther House made in your life?

What does Esther House mean to you?

Drug and Alcohol addiction

She has managed to get her identity document and a birth certificate for her child, and is now in the process of applying for a child support grant with the help of the social worker from the shelter. She continued to say that Esther House helped her to get rid of the addiction of alcohol and drugs like ecstacy, as where she was staying it was always available to her. Lady1 said that because of the Godly principles she learnt at Esther House she realised that her life had no meaning before she came to the shelter as she did not know Christ, and has now given her life to the Lord, she can see that her life is changing for the better, because of her stay in the shelter.

Lady1 said. To her, Esther House means love, as she has experienced this kind of life for the first time in her life. She continued to say that Esther House is her home and wishes that there were a lot of other places like Esther House, as she has had a life changing experience at the home.

Troubled Life of a woman

Lady2 said Esther House has been more than a home to her. A place where she has met different people with different problems living together in harmony. She has been able to let go of her past, and is learning how to cope with difficulty in her life. She feels better equipped now as to how to deal with problems that she is facing in her life. She has also learned how to manage her time and take responsibility of her life as a woman. She said, all in all Esther House has afforded her dignity (as she feels that if she had not come to Esther House she would have ended in the wrong places with consequences she cannot even begin to imagine). She has learned the spirit of Ubuntu (helping one another). She said as a single woman, who does not have children, she has learnt how to help other people especially with looking after their children and has found it healing to her, as before she had known a life of it is every man for himself, but all that has changed, because of the experience she has had at the shelter, and also because of the help she, herself has received.

Lady2 said that to her Esther House is a symbol of respect for women and their children. The guidance from the staff members who offer various services, has taught her a lot about life in general, mainly on how to cope with people from different backgrounds as she used to react to situations before, but now she understands that as people we can learn to understand cultural and racial differences. She ends by saying, she knows that some of them have learnt to cook dishes from other cultures (she adds, someone may look at it as something that does not matter, but to her it has meant that she can cope with anything, anywhere, as the foundation of her life is based on Christ she now understands the meaning of loving one another despite our differences).

Life with no direction

Lady3 said that Esther House has made a huge difference in her life, it has taught a couple of things that she did not know before. She has learnt how to have a relationship with Christ, and how she needs to live her life according to His principles. She now understands the love Christ has for her, looking back at where He has taken her from, at what He is still doing in her life. She said that she was just living her life with no sense of direction, and now she knows where her life is heading. The second thing is that while at the shelter she has learnt to believe in herself and knows that she is capable of doing the things she has always wanted to do in life. She has realized that it is not over, she said this is just the beginning, and feels as if she has been given a second chance in life, even though she still struggles with certain issues in her life, but there is hope now that her tomorrow is definitely better than her yesterday.

She said what Esther House means to her is, it is like a second family, a shoulder to cry on, where you are not judged, but guided. She feels that it is like a second mother. You get healing both physically and spiritually, mainly you get a sense of direction and are able to pick up your life.

Feeling of acceptance

Lady4 said Esther House has provided her with emotionally healing, as she had been through a lot when she first came into the house. She now can smile again, and is slowly understanding what is the meaning of having a relationship with God. She never realized that so many people are suffering with different problems, and that there is a place like this where she saw that she is not the only one who has been hurt in life. Some people have been through far worse than she has. Esther House has changed her in a way that she is grateful for every single breath that she takes. She has learnt how to put herself first, and know that she also deserves to be happy in life. Even though she realizes that she still has a long way to go, but she knows that she is empowered to face tomorrow.

What Esther House means to Lady4 is a place of hope, a place of new beginnings, a place where she is allowed to be whom she wants to be without being constantly criticized or ridiculed. She continued to say, to her it means “Being born again”.